Acts 13:46-52

13:46 Both Paul and Barnabas replied courageously, ¹  “It was necessary to speak the word of God ²  to you first. Since you reject it and do not consider yourselves worthy ³  of eternal life, we ⁴  are turning to the Gentiles. ⁵  13:47 For this ⁶  is what the Lord has commanded us: ‘I have appointed ⁷  you to be a light ⁸  for the Gentiles, to bring salvation ⁹  to the ends of the earth.’” ¹⁰  13:48 When the Gentiles heard this, they began to rejoice ¹¹  and praise ¹²  the word of the Lord, and all who had been appointed for eternal life ¹³  believed. 13:49 So the word of the Lord was spreading ¹⁴  through the entire region. 13:50 But the Jews incited ¹⁵  the God-fearing women of high social standing and the prominent men of the city, stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and threw them out ¹⁶  of their region. 13:51 So after they shook ¹⁷  the dust off their feet ¹⁸  in protest against them, they went to Iconium. ¹⁹  13:52 And the disciples were filled with joy ²⁰  and with the Holy Spirit.

[13:46]  ¹ tn Grk “Both Paul and Barnabas spoke out courageously and said.” The redundancy is removed in the translation and the verb “replied” is used in keeping with the logical sequence of events. The theme of boldness reappears: Acts 4:24-30; 9:27-28.

[13:46]  ² tn Grk “It was necessary that the word of God be spoken.” For smoothness and simplicity of English style, the passive construction has been converted to active voice in the translation.

[13:46]  ³ tn Or “and consider yourselves unworthy.”

[13:46]  ⁴ tn Grk “behold, we.” In this context ἰδού (idou) is not easily translated into English.

[13:46]  ⁵ sn This turning to the Gentiles would be a shocking rebuke to 1st century Jews who thought they alone were the recipients of the promise.

[13:47]  ⁶ tn Here οὕτως (Joutws) is taken to refer to what follows, the content of the quotation, as given for this verse by BDAG 742 s.v. οὕτω/οὕτως 2.

[13:47]  ⁷ tn BDAG 1004 s.v. τίθημι 3.a has “τιθέναι τινὰ εἴς τι place/appoint someone to or for (to function as) someth….Ac 13:47.” This is a double accusative construction of object (“you”) and complement (“a light”).

[13:47]  ⁸ sn Paul alludes here to the language of the Servant in Isaiah, pointing to Isa 42:6; 49:6. He and Barnabas do the work of the Servant in Isaiah.

[13:47]  ⁹ tn Grk “that you should be for salvation,” but more simply “to bring salvation.”

[13:47]  ¹⁰ sn An allusion to Isa 42:6 and 49:6. The expression the ends of the earth recalls Luke 3:6 and Acts 1:8. Paul sees himself and Barnabas as carrying out the commission of Luke 24:27. (See 2 Cor 6:2, where servant imagery also appears concerning Paul’s message.)

[13:48]  ¹¹ tn The imperfect verb ἔχαιρον (ecairon) and the following ἐδόξαζον (edoxazon) are translated as ingressive imperfects.

[13:48]  ¹² tn Or “glorify.” Although “honor” is given by BDAG 258 s.v. δοξάζω as a translation, it would be misleading here, because the meaning is “to honor in the sense of attributing worth to something,” while in contemporary English usage one speaks of “honoring” a contract in the sense of keeping its stipulations. It is not a synonym for “obey” in this context (“obey the word of the Lord”), but that is how many English readers would understand it.

[13:48]  ¹³ sn Note the contrast to v. 46 in regard to eternal life.

[13:49]  ¹⁴ tn BDAG 239 s.v. διαφέρω 1 has “spread” for διαφέρετο (diafereto) in connection with a teaching. This is the first summary since Acts 9:31.

[13:50]  ¹⁵ tn For the translation of παρώτρυναν (parwtrunan) as “incited” see BDAG 780 s.v. παροτρύνω.

[13:50]  ¹⁶ tn BDAG 299 s.v. ἐκβάλλω 1 has “throw out.” Once again, many Jews reacted to the message (Acts 5:17, 33; 6:11; 13:45).

[13:51]  ¹⁷ tn The participle ἐκτιναξάμενοι (ektinaxamenoi) is taken temporally. It could also be translated as a participle of attendant circumstance (“So they shook…and went”).

[13:51]  ¹⁸ sn Shaking the dust off their feet was a symbolic gesture commanded by Jesus to his disciples, Matt 10:14; Mark 6:11; Luke 9:5. It shows a group of people as culpable before God.

[13:51]  ¹⁹ sn Iconium was a city in Lycaonia about 90 mi (145 km) east southeast of Pisidian Antioch. It was the easternmost city of Phrygia.

[13:52]  ²⁰ sn The citizens of Pisidian Antioch were not discouraged by the persecution, but instead were filled with joy.